Painting the E.I. White

EIWhite

Over the holidays I spent some time working on my digital photo painting technique. The above is taken from a 1896 photo of the schooner E.I. White.

I loved the lines and the gracefulness of this schooner when I first saw the photo and thought it would make an interesting art print.

In working on the image, I discovered the name of the Schooner was E.I. White. Through the magic of Google, I found that the E.I. White was built in Harrington, Maine in 1895. The original photo was made one year later. The ship didn’t last very long.

The E.I. White was bound from Philadelphia for Cardenas with a cargo of coal and was stranded on Gingerbread Shoal on Bimini Island on Dec..7, 1901.

Soon after grounding the vessel began to roll and grind on the rocks and she showed signs of breaking up. Three of the crew preferred to trust their lives to the ship’s boat which was launched alongside.

During the night following the swell capsized the boat and two of the seamen were drowned. The next day Captain Mitchell and the remainder of the crew proceeded in the boat to Bimini Island, and thence were assisted to Nassau.

Prints are available on Etsy.